This disclosure relates to distribution of wireless signals to multiple transceivers within a multiple transceiver region using coaxial cable as an intermediate distribution path.
Wireless base transceiver stations (BTSs) communicate wirelessly with devices such as wireless phones, computers, tablets, smart devices, and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices using protocols such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), 802.11, and/or 802.16, among others. A group of BTSs may be connected to a base station controller (BSC), which handles the traffic and signalling between the base station subsystem (BSS, the system comprised of the BTSs and the BSC) and the circuit-switched or packet-switched network responsible for routing the information to the destination device. The coverage area of a BTS comprises a communications site, and a wireless network may have numerous communications sites within a city block, each communications site potentially communicating with multiple access technologies and radio-frequency channels.
One problem with existing wireless networks is that, although mature wireless networks will often be able to provide circuit-switched and packet-switched services to devices outside of buildings, there are still various locations inside buildings where “in-building” grade wireless coverage cannot be conveniently achieved with traditional outdoor communications sites, a problem particularly pronounced in urban centres comprised of numerous buildings. In-building wireless coverage can be particularly compromised in taller buildings and buildings with reflective exteriors.
Another limitation in wireless networks is that the deployment of new external communications site locations to address capacity and coverage limitations (for example, in urban centres) is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive; traditional BTS equipment is costly and requires substantial real estate, and there are difficulties in construction and maintenance access during busy road traffic periods. Additionally, wireless signals from these external communications sites may not be able to penetrate through the walls of a building, or at least may experience some degree of path loss or signal attenuation, and therefore may not be able to provide in-building grade coverage. Alternatively, limiting the number of BTSs in an urban centre to reduce operator costs would result in reduced capacity and data rates given that each BTS would need to accommodate a greater number of mobile terminals (MTs).
Cable TV (CATV) networks are typically implemented with a Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) architecture, where fibres carry CATV signals from a CATV head end (the master facility or coax-cable plant used to receive, process and distribute CATV signals over the CATV network to CATV subscribers) to fibre nodes, where coaxial cable lines branch out to the Customer Premises Locations (CPLs) (FIG. 1). The CATV signals may for example include radio signals within the range of 5 MHz-860 MHz, however other frequency ranges can be used in different systems. The CATV infrastructure typically supports bidirectional communication between a customer's location and the head end by using forward and reverse path amplifiers.